Dollar, Yen Rally As Risk Aversion Spreads

The US Dollar (

) and the Japanese Yen (

) rally today as investors turn to safe haven assets after a very disappointing consumer sentiment number triggered a big sell-off in stock and commodity markets. The University of Michigan consumer confidence index dropped to 66.5 from last month’s 76, the lowest number since August 2009. The number was way off analysts’ estimates of 74. The USD is trading higher against all of the other major currencies except for the JPY, which is the leader in today’s trading. The Euro (EUR) failed to hold the 1.3 level against the USD and currently sits at 1.2930s, while trading lower against the Japanese Yen too as the EUR/JPY fell from 113.34 to 111.60. The British Pound (GBP) is one of the worst hit currencies today after having rallied for most of the past week. The GBP/USD is down to 1.5280s after hitting almost a three month high yesterday. The GBP/JPY, meanwhile, fell sharply from 135.19 to 132, later recovering a little and currently rests at 132.40s. The risk aversion eventually caught up with the Swiss Franc (CHF) as well, despite the fact that it usually holds its own pretty well in times of panic. This time, however, the strength of the main safe haven currencies took over and the Swiss Franc fell significantly against its US and Japanese counterparts. The USD/CHF rallied from 1.0414 to 1.0540, before retreating a little and is now trading at 1.0510s, while the CHF/JPY fell from 84 to 82.